7 pm - Cocktails
8 pm to midnight - Dinner & Dancing with the musical group Fried Ice Cream

Dress is Derby Bonnets and Dress Boots
prizes for the best bonnets and best boots

We are planning a spectacular night of live music, dancing, fine food, auction treasures and much, much more! This very special night is a salute to years of hope and healing through therapeutic horseback riding and related therapeutic activities for thousands of Houston area children and adults with disabilities.

Honorary Chairs: Sugar Land Mayor James and Gay Thompson

Honorees: The Wise Family — William and Marie Wise, Hugo and Mary Elizabeth Sand, Jon and Genna Evans, and Vivian Wise

Therapeutic horseback riding tremendously impacts the lives of individuals with brain damage, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, autism, Down’s syndrome, spinal injuries and many other disabilities. By using the movement and spirit of the horse, combined with the teamwork of the rider, instructor, therapist and volunteers, therapeutic horseback riding produces life-changing results!

You can directly contribute to the success of this event by donating an item or items to the live and/or silent auction. Your auction donation will be recognized in the gala program that night and will be listed on our website. SIRE is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization and your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Please download the Auction Contribution Form and mail to: SIRE, c/o: Harla Kaplan, Director of Development, 1035 Chamboard Lane, Houston, Texas 77018, fax to 713-263-7134 or call 713/639-1681 for more information.

SIRE provides programs for individuals who have physical and cognitive disabilities, sensory impairments and psycho-social disorders. SIRE works with its clients to improve motor skills, balance and posture while stimulating the cardiovascular system and normalizing muscle tone. The client also experiences the three-dimensional movement of the horse, similar to a human’s gait, which is difficult to duplicate in a clinical setting.

SIRE, Houston’s Therapeutic Equestrian Centers, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit therapeutic horseback riding organization which uses the spirit and movement of the horse to benefit people with disabilities. SIRE has been active in the Houston area for 26 years and currently serves clients at sites in Hockley, Spring and Fort Bend County. SIRE is a premier accredited center with NARHA (North American Riding for the Handicapped Association). For more information about SIRE, call 281.356.7558 or visit www.sire-htec.org.

“We are excited to have Wendy join our team at SIRE,” said Jimm Williams, Executive Director of SIRE. “Her passion for helping others along with her extensive knowledge and love of horses will certainly assist SIRE, the volunteers and the riders of our organization. She brings with her some invaluable contacts throughout the equestrian community, as well as relationships with many area corporations and individuals who share a philanthropic belief and a willingness to give back to the local community.” Cook brings a wealth of experience to SIRE after serving for seven years as the Executive Director of the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show.

“I am thrilled to join SIRE and all of the people and horses that are a part of the organization,” says Cook. “SIRE has an honorable mission and provides many new concepts projected to catapult the benefits of therapeutic riding into the spotlight. I feel that I have much to offer, a great deal to learn as well as receive. I’ve been waiting a lifetime for this opportunity, and I look forward to the challenge!”

SIRE provides programs for individuals who have physical and cognitive disabilities, sensory impairments and psycho-social disorders. SIRE works with its clients to improve motor skills, balance and posture while stimulating the cardiovascular system and normalizing muscle tone. The client also experiences the three-dimensional movement of the horse, similar to a human’s gait, which is difficult to duplicate in a clinical setting.

SIRE, Houston’s Therapeutic Equestrian Centers, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit therapeutic horseback riding organization which uses the spirit and movement of the horse to benefit people with disabilities. SIRE has been active in the Houston area for 26 years and currently serves clients at sites in Hockley, Spring and Fort Bend County. SIRE is a premier accredited center with NARHA (North American Riding for the Handicapped Association). For more information about SIRE, call 281.356.7558 or visit www.sire-htec.org.

From Anthony - “I am very excited about joining the SIRE team. In addition to anticipating the satisfaction derived from working with the program’s students and volunteers I am looking forward to expanding SIRE’s instructor training offerings. Inviting people from other neighborhoods to come to SIRE to receive their training and certification as Therapeutic Riding Instructors will have national and global impact as they return home to their local communities and implement what we have taught them.”

More information about all of our staff is found on our website.

This enrichment is open to Horse Leaders from all sites. Please e-mail vc.hockley [at] sire-htec.org to let us know if you will attend this educational event.

SIRE Hockley
Ignacio Murguia had surgery to straighten his legs, and he grew several inches. When he came back to ride, he had a “new body” that was difficult to manage. By working hard every week, Ignacio could sit up longer—back in September we were counting in minutes, and now he can sit up the entire session.

Choosing the right horse has helped Erin Brown, a longtime SIRE client, succeed after a setback. Erin fractured her pelvis in a fall at home, and had difficulties when she returned to riding. With lots of hard work, Erin has graduated to a horse with more movement.

It’s easier with a little help from your friends. Two girls, Yessenia Luna and Elizabeth Williams, encourage each other. Being a team has helped each girl learn new skills and share their friendship. Another team, Karen Abbott’s riders called the “Sensational Six”, has practically grown up at SIRE on horseback—they help each other and even have a group cheer at the end of class.

SIRE Spring
Progress can be measured in many ways—how well you hold the reins for steering, how many directions you can follow, recognizing yourself as a successful person.

Whitney Faerber’s family has watched her grow and improve while riding at SIRE Spring. She has been learning to ride without sidewalkers or leaders, and very recently she rode completely independent. The smile on her face lit up the arena.

Being able to sit upright on a horse is a huge accomplishment for some of our riders, especially for those in wheelchairs like Megan Fry. Recently, she participated in the Top Hands Horse Show, and demonstrated her abilities at the Horses & Humans Research Foundation’s Open House Presentation.

SIRE Fort Bend
Several Fort Bend riders have made great strides—some at Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s Top Hands Horse Show, and some right here in the arena at SIRE.

Five of seven SIRE Fort Bend riders had never competed before at the show: Sebastian Arizpe, Alyse Delph, Erica Haase, Lance Nicholson and Derrick Perkins. Together with our show veterans Allison Meyer and Cade Zimmerman, these riders performed beautifully in their classes and accomplished individual personal goals.

Our 2008 Child Rider of the Year, Alejandro Araque, is one of the hardest working riders at SIRE. His strength and ability to use his body effectively to communicate with his horse continue to amaze us all.

Brittany Ricco is having an amazing semester, as she is taking control of her movements as well as her horse. Brittany can now stop those spasms and work through them.

So many wonderful riders, we can’t mention them all, but they all deserve applause. It’s our pleasure and privilege to work with them every week. They truly are our inspiration.

Round-ups are the best way to introduce people to the magic of SIRE and its mission. Just by listening to our one-hour presentation, a person can understand the freedom from disabilities that therapeutic riding brings to our clients. Not talking about it, not watching a video, not handing out a brochure, but sitting in the bleachers as a part of a therapeutic riding lesson is more powerful than any other message we can bring to the community about the benefits of SIRE. It captured me!

Round-ups are usually scheduled monthly at each of our three locations, conveniently on Saturday mornings. While clients are participating in their regular classes, we describe what is happening in the arena. Round-Up attendees see first-hand the client-specific therapeutic session planned by the instructor, understand the role and interaction of the volunteers, and appreciate the special bond that forms between horse and rider.

Round-ups are informational only… we never, ever ask our guests for money. When they ask how they can help, we tell them the best way to help SIRE is by spreading the word about what we do—and by inviting their friends and business associates to our next Round-up. You can do the same!

—Richard “Whitey” White, President

JOIN US FOR A ROUND-UP

Leave your checkbook at home and
come learn more about our amazing
equine-assisted therapy for people
with disabilities.

2009 ROUND-UP DATES

Hockley
5/16, 7/18, 10/3 and 11/14

Spring
4/18, 6/13, 9/12, 10/17 and 12/5

Ft. Bend
5/2, 6/27, 9/19, 11/7

Take a walk (or trot!) with me down Memory Lane….back to 1984. I saw an ad in my neighborhood paper about the need for volunteers at a therapeutic horseback riding program called SIRE, Self Improvement thru Riding Education, in the Cypress area. This was right up my alley, since horses and kids were my loves. I had a very short stint with another program a few years earlier that, unfortunately, lost its funding after only 2 sessions. But that experience planted a seed and I knew this would be something perfect for me. I went to the Volunteer Orientation where I met Cindy Lindh, SIRE’s founder, President of the Board and instructor, and about 6 or 7 other new volunteers. Little did I know at the time the hold SIRE would have on my heart for many years to come.

That first semester I volunteered at SIRE, one of my jobs was to meet Joan Woodard, the first Volunteer Coordinator, at J Bar M Ranch on Kluge Rd. where she would bring a borrowed horse trailer to pick up Sam, our roan colored Welch pony. I helped load up Sam and followed them back to Oakhollow Equestrian Park on Grant Rd. where the owners, Karen and Greg Zalar, graciously donated the use of their facilities for our SIRE classes one afternoon a week. The stalls there were full, so there was no room to board Sam or our other pony, Sambo. Sambo, a brownish-gray pony a little bigger than Sam, lived in a backyard pen at a home across the street from Oakhollow. So another one of my duties was to help stop traffic on Grant Rd. while Diane Ardissono, SIRE’s first volunteer, walked Sambo across the road to come work in the classes. The walk over was usually uneventful; however, the walk back, sometimes after dark during evening traffic, could be especially scary! Either Cindy Lindh or Physical Therapist, Diane Kornett instructed the 2 classes, with 2 or 3 clients each riding Sam, Sambo and other horses borrowed from Oakhollow. The schedule was written on a poster board tacked up by the stalls. It wasn’t long before I was given the title of “Tack Master” where my job was to make sure that all of the bridles, saddle pads, helmets…basically all of SIRE’s worldly belongings… were neatly packed away in our one large tack trunk kept in the Oakhollow tack room. It was a very exciting day when that tack trunk was replaced with an 8’ x 10’ wooden building that would eventually travel with SIRE to two other locations. SIRE remained at Oakhollow for 5 years and grew to riding 33 clients 2 afternoons per week. Two of those riders were Gabrielle Powers and Erin Brown who are both still riding today. Diana Moss and Karen Abbott began volunteering while SIRE was at Oakhollow and also remain with us today.

I was asked to join the Board of Directors soon after I started volunteering. The board at that time was responsible for all management of SIRE affairs, from approving a $60 expense for the purchase of a file cabinet to setting the riding schedule. Fundraisers in the early days consisted of garage sales, car washes and Pony Parties, where we would get Sam and Sambo all gussied up and take them to birthday parties to give pony rides. We also made and sold Lick a Stick for SIRE, candy suckers in the shape of a horse. No Shindigs and Ride-a-Thons back then! There were many, many times when I would get a call from Diane Ardissono, our treasurer, saying that we did not have enough money to last through the semester and we would probably have to close down. That is when our Guardian Angel would take over and, suddenly, some big donation would come in to sustain us for another semester.

I remember the first time we became accredited by NARHA. The accreditation process was very new and NARHA was very young. A lady from NARHA came down, toured the facility and then we all went to lunch. She asked us some questions over lunch. I don’t even think she saw any clients ride. Then, voila, a few weeks later, our certificate of accreditation arrived! My how that process has changed…thank goodness!

In 1989, we picked up our little wooden building and our herd of the 2 ponies plus 2 horses, Truckston and Majesta, and moved to Bluebonnet Riding Academy on Huffmeister Rd. run by Colonel Roberto Perea. Here we were able to expand to 3 days per week and also start a pilot program with Millsap Elementary School. Students from a special education class were bussed over once a week to ride and learn stable management skills. Back at school, an equine theme was incorporated into much of their curriculum, such as having the book “Happy Horsemanship” serve as their reader.

I was now serving as Volunteer Coordinator and the schedule on the poster board had to be replaced by a chalk board where I would write the entire day’s schedule, which consisted of 3 or 4 classes. Computers were not yet a household item, and certainly not an item owned by SIRE! I had an index card for each volunteer which contained their address, phone number and other pertinent information. We scrimped and saved everywhere we could. In August when school supplies were on sale, I would go to 3 or 4 different Walmarts and pick through the many colors of folders until I pulled out all the blue ones they had to use for our Volunteer Manual. While at Bluebonnet Riding Academy, our Guardian Angel brought us 2 new volunteers who would prove to be very important to SIRE’s future: Karen McPhail Gardner and Molly Sweeney. Four of the riders who started at Bluebonnet are also still riding with us: Robert Anderson, Nathaniel Hunter, Aubrey Sartain and Erin Denmark. Volunteer Cheryl Kersh began in 1992 at Bluebonnet and continues to volunteer at Hockley today.

In 1991, Lyndon and Cathy Wright approached us about opening another SIRE site at their home in Montgomery. Not only was the Cypress site continuing to grow, but now there was the opportunity to serve more clients in another area. So the SIRE Montgomery site was born with the help of Lyndon and Cathy and also Warren and Kimberly Reininger. Lyndon and Warren joined the board and Kimberly served as Development Committee Chair and instructor at the Montgomery site. Warren eventually succeeded Cindy Lindh as board president in 1993. Krysia Barnes and James Giovanniello began riding at the Montgomery SIRE site and still ride today.

The Cypress site made another move in 1993 to Jordan Quarter Horses on Kitzman Rd. SIRE now owned 8 horses, 5 at Cypress and 3 at Montgomery. 1993 also brought the first Ride-a-Thon which netted SIRE about $4200. The little wooden building that had now been moved twice was busting at the seams as it tried to hold all of our tack, file cabinets, and supplies. One of our board members knew someone who had a portable building business, so we placed an order for a wonderful brand new 10’x 20’metal building (now known as the “Welcome Wagon” at the Hockley site). We were finally able to have a real office with a desk and the first SIRE telephone line. Our time at the Jordan’s brought us more wonderful people who are still a part of the SIRE family today, including volunteers Pat Roddy, Darlene Dummer and Rebecca Gribben and clients Rebecca Chambers, Melissa Flowers, Derek Blackburn, Jackie Forsthoff, Carolyn Howell, Christopher Wilson, and Gary Lynn.

Volunteers have always been vital to SIRE, but in those first 10 years, almost everyone was a volunteer. Although funds were limited, we were able to pay our contract instructors a small hourly rate by this time. Administrators (Karen McPhail Gardner being one of them), coordinators and the board were still running all of the business of SIRE on a volunteer basis. It was decided that our first part-time paid position should be a Head Instructor. In 1994, this job was put in the very capable hands of Karen Abbott, SIRE’s first employee.

The predecessor of the SIRE Shindig was what we called the “Barbeque/Auction”. The first one was held in 1993 at the VFW Hall in Cypress and made about $6000 for SIRE. This event then evolved into “Horses and Harleys”, a rip-roaring BBQ dinner/dance/live and silent auction held at Tin Hall in Cypress. Our friend, Johnny Mancuso of Mancuso Harley Davidson, helped organize and promote this to all of his motorcycle friends. I think some people came just to see the long line up of fancy Harleys outside in the parking lot!…or was it to buy a chance on a shiny new Harley in our raffle! Special Edition T-shirts were one of the highlights of the live auction. Holly Ellis, a volunteer, and Tina Abernethy, our facility manager, would come up with some great designs using photos of our horses and it would be revealed at the event. Some t-shirts went for as much as $100, then would be donated back and sold again and again.

We were definitely feeling the challenges of running two sites. Even though we were most grateful to the Jordan’s for allowing us the use of their facility, we wanted to have more control over the care of our horses and also our riding schedule. The Montgomery site was feeling like a SIRE “stepchild” and we struggled with a “them” and “us” syndrome. SIRE’s Guardian Angel knew it was time to step in again and in mid 1994, Warren Reininger, board president at that time, received a call from Mrs. Pat Toppenberg offering to donate her 6 acre horse farm in Hockley to SIRE. Pat had been introduced to SIRE when she donated an Arabian mare, Ferenita, to the program. She must have been impressed because soon after, before her husband, Bob, passed away, they made the decision to offer their Daybreak Arabian Farm to SIRE. Talk about a dream come true! This place had a 3 bedroom house plus a covered arena with 14 stalls beside it, a main barn with 19 more stalls, offices, storage, feed room and a restroom…more space than we ever thought we could fill up! (we thought wrong!) But the most exciting part was the chance to bring together the Cypress and Montgomery groups to form one big happy family! And happy we were…but, oh my gosh were we ever scared, too. Would we be able to afford the upkeep on this facility? Would the volunteers and clients come all the way out to Hockley? Many questions filled our heads, but it was decided that this was SIRE’s chance to fulfill the dream of serving 200 clients per week. I believe that the donation of this facility made more impact on the future of SIRE than any other event in its history. We could now hold classes whenever we wanted. We could control all of the care of our beloved horses. We named the arena the Bob “Toppy” Toppenberg Arena. I will be eternally grateful to the Toppenbergs for this extremely generous gift.

Once at our own place, the program blossomed like a spring flower. Horse donations came in, the volunteers and clients DID come, more part-time staff was hired, and the program grew to owning 13 horses and riding 87 clients per week by 1997. I volunteered to be the Assistant Site Administrator for about a year and a half along side Site Administrator, Mary Gwinner. Molly Sweeney took over from Lyndon Wright as President of the Board in 1997. Kris Ward was hired to be our first paid Volunteer Coordinator. Karen McPhail Gardner had taken a hiatus to earn her Masters in Occupational Therapy degree and returned to us in 1998 to become Program Director.

SIRE was approached in 1999 by a struggling program in the Spring area called Houston’s Therapeutic Equestrian Center, formerly Rainbow Springs Stables. They owned a 36 acre plot with a small covered arena and wanted to merge with SIRE. Memories of the challenges of having 2 sites still remained with us and the decision to merge, led by Molly Sweeney now serving as Board President, was debated, discussed, and researched for many months. This merger would mean our first debt (their land carried a note), more facilities to maintain, and the additional expenses for needed improvements. HTEC had a very persistent and determined Board of Directors and in 2000, the merger became official and SIRE, Self Improvement Thru Riding Education became, SIRE, Houston’s Therapeutic Equestrian Center. The HTEC Board also merged into the SIRE board to form a very strong governing body to guide the future of SIRE. After a year of preparation and with guidance from volunteer extraordinaire, Pat Roddy as chair of the “Spring Forward” committee, the first SIRE classes were held at the Spring site in 2001.

2001 brought other important milestones. Our first full time employee, Deborah Gottselig, filled the job of Office Manager early that year. Glenn Aker became our first Executive Director later in 2001. SIRE now owned or leased 25 horses and rode 150 clients per week at the two sites. Problems such as manure disposal were no longer items on the board of director’s agenda. We would get very excited when people told us we were “so organized” (“organized” and “SIRE” weren’t usually in the same sentence in the early years!). SIRE had now grown into a well-run professional organization respected in the field of therapeutic riding. It was time to reach out to potential clients in another part of the Houston area, so in 2006, by invitation from Laura and Cal Eller, a third site was started at Sienna Stables in Ft. Bend County.

Fast forward to today – the spring of 2008- SIRE serves 212 clients at 3 locations with a budget of almost $1.4 million, has 30 full, part-time and volunteer staff members, approximately 300 volunteers and owns or leases 33 horses. The Hockley site has classes 6 days per week and offers hippotherapy and driving. A wonderful new facility is under construction at the Spring site. The Ft. Bend site has its own “little wooden building” and has added on a third day of classes per week. SIRE is a premier accredited center with NARHA and several of our staff members serve on national committees and boards. There is talk of finding a fourth location in the southeast part of town. The dream continues!

What a privilege and honor it has been for me to watch this program grow and develop over these past years. Just as I watched many of the clients grow from toddlers to adults, I also watched the program go through the same stages of development. It started like a toddler, struggling to stand on its own. There were even the awkward teenage years where SIRE was trying to find stability and an identity. Now the organization is like a young adult, strong and determined to spread its wings and fly. Our Guardian Angel has been with us all along the way, always bringing SIRE the resources and people just when they were needed most. I can’t wait to see what our Angel has in store for SIRE in the next 25 years!